Master Warrant Officer Palani Jegathesan, 45,

April 18, 2009
SAF regular dies after run
A VETERAN warrant officer from the Singapore Armed Forces collapsed and died yesterday morning after completing a 3km run at the annual SAF Commanders' Sports Day.

Master Warrant Officer Palani Jegathesan, 45, of the Republic of Singapore Air Force, was taken immediately to the Safti Military Institute Medical Centre, less than five minutes away from where he fell at the Safti Military Institute Sports Complex.

When doctors there failed to revive him, he was rushed to the National University Hospital, but died about an hour later.

The Straits Times understands that the SAF veteran of over 20 years, a father of two, had not complained of any illness before his run. Officers had performed the usual checks to find out if there were some who did not feel well.

MWO Jegathesan had marched in last year's National Day Parade as the regimental sergeant major for the colours party.

He was also said to be health conscious, although he had been diagnosed with diabetes two years ago. He was a vegetarian who did not drink or smoke and he ran three times a week.

He will be given a full military funeral today. Mindef said it was assisting the family and is investigating the incident.

Last month, another warrant officer - 52-year-old Second Warrant Officer Lim Kian Hong - also died during a training run.

KIMBERLY SPYKERMAN

Second Warrant Officer (2WO) Poh Eng Ann was found unconscious

Airforce technician found unconscious dies

Sat, Apr 25, 2009
AsiaOne


A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) regular died on Friday evening shortly after he was found unconscious at Paya Lebar Air Base.

Second Warrant Officer (2WO) Poh Eng Ann was found unconscious at 6.05pm in a flight crew room on April 24, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

The 36-year-old RSAF senior technician was attended to immediately by a medical team, comprising two doctors and two medics, from the air base's Medical Centre.


He was then evacuated to the medical centre where the doctors continued their attempts to resuscitate him.
2WO Poh was sent to the Changi General Hospital (CGH) at 6.51pm. and arrived at 7.02pm.

SAF doctors and medics continued their attempts to resuscitate him en route to the hospital. 2WO Poh was pronounced dead at 7.24pm at CGH.

MINDEF and the SAF extend their deepest condolences to the family of the late 2WO Poh. MINDEF will assist the family in their time of grief and is investigating the incident.

A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Warrant Officer collapsed and died after a run this morning.

Soldier collapses and dies after run

Fri, Mar 13, 2009
AsiaOne


A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Warrant Officer collapsed and died after a run this morning.

Second Warrant Officer (2WO) Lim Kian Hong collapsed at about 8:25am while taking part in a self-paced 2.4km unit run at the Nee Soon Driclad Centre.

2WO Lim, a 52-year-old technician, collapsed about 1.2km into the run, according to a statement from Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). He was from the 6AMB (6th Army Maintenance Base) unit.


2WO Lim was immediately evacuated to the Nee Soon Camp Medical Centre and arrived at about 8:30am where the doctors tried to resuscitate him.
He was sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital at 8:54am.

En route to the hospital, an SAF doctor and medic continued their attempts to resuscitate him.

2WO Lim was pronounced dead at 9:51am at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

MINDEF and the SAF extend their deepest condolences to the family of the late 2WO Lim. MINDEF will assist the family in their time of grief and is investigating the incident.

SAF doctor found dead was offered new post

SAF doctor found dead was offered new post

By Jermyn Chow

THE Defence Ministry has come out for the first time to address the issues surrounding the sudden death of Captain (Dr) Allan Ooi in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this month.

Its spokesman, Colonel Darius Lim, said Capt Ooi's superiors were aware of his unhappiness over his work, and had offered him a different appointment. But he never got back to his boss about whether he would take the option.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force medical officer, 27, was found dead underneath Melbourne's Westgate Bridge on March 3. In a note he left behind, he said, among other things, that he was unhappy at work. He lamented that he spent more time doing administrative work such as writing articles for the air force in-house magazine, than treating patients.

Capt (Dr) Ooi, a Singapore Armed Forces scholar, had wanted out of the SAF.

Col Lim said in a letter to The Straits Times Forum Page that on Oct 3 last year, Capt (Dr) Ooi was offered "the option of posting to an appointment which he would be interested in". He did not elaborate on what the appointment was.

Capt (Dr) Ooi was to get back to his superiors on the matter in two weeks time.

"However, he did not do so," Col Lim added.

Instead, on Oct 15, when the two weeks would have been up, he was declared as having gone AWOL or absent without official leave.

It is believed that he left the country on Oct 13, leaving his family and his employer in the dark as to his whereabouts.

The note he left behind for family and friends had been circulating widely on the Internet, setting off much chatter in blogs and forums about the SAF's scholarship regime and its inflexibility.

In the Mindef letter, Col Lim said Capt (Dr) Ooi took up an SAF scholarship to study medicine at the National University of Singapore in 2000. In return, he was to serve a 12-year bond which started in April 2006.

In January last year, he was sent for a six month stint in aviation medicine in London. When he returned, Capt (Dr) Ooi was posted to the Aeromedical Centre to perform "clinical and staff work".

Col Lim said Capt (Dr) Ooi was scheduled to go for his hospital posting at the end of this year. It is the practice for SAF medical doctors on scholarships to do a six-year stint in a hospital and the other six in command and staff positions in the SAF Medical Corps.

The SAF offers six scholarship schemes, including its most prestigious SAF Overseas Scholarship (Safos).

The bond period for such scholarships is between four and six years, depending on the length of study and whether it is in a local university or overseas one.

In 2006, the bond period for the revamped Local Medicine Scholarship was shortened from 12 years to six years.

Capt (Dr) Ooi's family has maintained that another three years were added to his bond as a result of the London training under SAF sponsorship. Col Lim did not address this issue in the Mindef letter.

He said SAF scholars had to serve out their bonds as "substantial resources and time have been devoted to training them". Otherwise, he added, they will leave "gaps in key positions in the SAF".

Those who want to leave the armed forces earlier can apply through a "proper process", though early release will be granted "only under strong and extenuating circumstances", said Col Lim.

He declined to elaborate on what these circumstances were or how many SAF scholars had been granted early release.

When contacted, Capt (Dr) Ooi's brother, Dr Adrian Ooi, 28, a doctor at the Singapore General Hospital, said the family would like to meet Mindef officials to clarify the issues raised.

He added: "We hope that we will get more answers through a direct dialogue with the authorities."

A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) commando was killed in a parachuting accident in South Africa on Wednesday.

A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) commando was killed in a parachuting accident in South Africa on Wednesday.

First Warrant Officer (1WO) Tan Poh Eng, 53, was participating in an SAF freefall training session in Bloemfontein, when he was killed.

The SAF regular was part of a six-man team that jumped off a Republic of Singapore Air Force C-130 aircraft at a height of 12500 feet to conduct a formation jump.


While his team mates deployed their parachutes, 1WO Tan spiralled downwards to the ground, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).

He was found unconscious at about 4.45pm (Singapore time), and was given immediate medical attention by an SAF doctor and a medic on-site.

He was evacuated by helicopter at 5.15pm and arrived at about 5.35pm at the Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein. 1WO Tan was pronounced dead at 5.57pm in the hospital.

1WO Tan was a parachute jump instructor from the Commando Training Institute, and part of a 51-member SAF Commando team participating in SAF freefall training which is being conducted from 27 April to 24 May in Bloemfontein.

The SAF says it conducts freefall training in South Africa once every two years.

All SAF freefall training has since been temporarily suspended.